A new standard of learning.
No matter your age, life becomes a bit easier when you understand yourself and others. At Brigham Learning, we take this belief to heart by helping students understand their unique learning styles to achieve academic potential.
Founded in 2021 by Kathleen Brigham, Brigham Learning employs 30+ leading learning specialists to support families in Westchester, Fairfield County, New York City, and beyond. With subject-based tutoring, learning assessments, academic coaching, and parental support, we’re an integrated learning community that nurtures students from pre-kindergarten through college.
Our Directors
Kathleen Brigham - Rye
Kat Burbano - New Jersey
Kathleen holds a bachelor's degree from Middlebury College and a master's in educational administration from Columbia Teachers College. Her career spans roles as an admissions director at the Dwight School in NYC, where she also taught art history and grammar to a creative writing teacher in Sun Valley, ID. After relocating to London, she delved into special education, completing the Bev Hornsby diploma. In addition, Kathleen co-founded School Choice International, aiding families in school selection. She taught ESL and homeschooled children of traveling actors. Back in the U.S., she focused on raising her children while tutoring. Joining the learning consultants in 2012, Kathleen scaled the business in the tri-state area. In 2020, inspired by students' challenges, she founded Brigham Learning and Advising to make a broader impact, continuing her passion for tutoring, executive function, and writing.
Kathleen takes pride in her team of 30+ dedicated tutors committed to fostering academic success. Specializing in personalized sessions, she and her tutors go beyond addressing academic challenges, extending their support to identify and overcome individual blocks or obstacles. Brigham Learning’s inclusive approach encompasses working with students facing various learning challenges and those seeking enrichment and engagement. Kathleen strongly believes that this commitment ensures a comprehensive and practical approach to each student's unique needs, contributing to a dynamic and successful educational journey.
As students re-entered in-person learning after the pandemic, Kathleen observed changes not just in academics but in motivation, stamina, and attitudes toward school. These observations prompted Kathleen to expand her advising services. Brigham Advising meets with parents to help them better understand their child and their learning preferences and advises parents on implementing strategies at home.
In addition to her degrees in advanced educational pursuits, Kathleen Brigham is a certified divorce mediator. With consideration to the home environment for children, Kathleen helps parents accelerate resolution and peace in the divorce process. She aims to provide clarity on the “new normal” of life beyond divorce, in addition to tactics to create boundaries and structure during a fraught time. Kathleen and her husband, Chris Dugan, wrote The Nesting Experiment, and Kathleen advises parents on nesting as well as helping them implement parenting plans.
All of Kathleen’s work revolves around deeply understanding individuals, whether students or parents, couples or individuals. By delving into people’s strengths and weaknesses and examining how these aspects influence everything from academic performance to relationships at home, she strives to foster understanding and effective communication. The goal is Kathleen’s three C’s; clarity, communication and connection.
Born in Ukraine but raised in Upper Manhattan, Yekaterina discovered her passion for educating others during her undergraduate experience as a Teacher Academy Fellow. In this role, she immersed herself in the educational landscape by observing, crafting lesson plans, and instructing alongside educators from every corner of New York City. Kat obtained a B.A. in Mathematics Education from The City College of New York. Progressing to her Master's studies in Mathematics Education, she earned entry into the prestigious Math for America fellowship, an esteemed program for math educators and educational leaders. In this fellowship, she not only pursued further research in the educational sphere but also demonstrated her dedication to growth through active involvement in professional development initiatives and contributions to the educational community. Yekaterina continued her education and received her School Building Leader (S.B.L.) certification from The College of Saint Rose, where she honed her skills as an educator and applied her understanding of the systematic and structural needs inherent in educational institutions.
With over a decade of classroom experience in public and private settings, Yekaterina has taught courses from Algebra I to AP Calculus. During class instruction, she places great focus. She has worked with Eduware as a content writer, with The Department of Education on the Specialized High School Admissions Test as a content item reviewer, and as a scorer for the NYS Regents. In each environment, Yekaterina places great effort in guiding children to overcome their fear by improving their content comprehension and learning to take control of their anxiety that comes alongside those assessments.
Yekaterina’s unique blend of hands-on experience and collaborative spirit has helped her develop and utilize tools and strategies in the ever-evolving educational landscape to support individuals of a variety of ages and ability levels. Working with students with ADHD, Autism, Anxiety, Depression, Auditory/Visual Processing Disorder, and various other challenges, Yekaterina understands that children can be smart and scattered. Her goal is to help boost skills in organization, planning, decision-making, and emotional regulation.
Yekaterina’s approach is centered on fostering a supportive and inclusive environment where every individual's unique strengths and needs are recognized and addressed with empathy and expertise.
Our values:
1. Unique strengths are worth celebrating.
We all have a different learning style, and here at Brigham Learning, that learning style is embraced and maximized. When students work with our tutors, they can show themselves with absolute authenticity.
2. Self-awareness makes us stronger.
We want our impact to last well beyond your tutoring session. Our team of specialists conducts learning assessments to pinpoint a student’s unique learning style and executive functioning strengths. Post-assessments, we help students amplify those strengths for increased academic performance through a custom-developed implementation plan.
3. Student success is a team job.
Students might be doing the homework, but we’ve found that support systems make all the difference. To set up students for success, we coach parents on the ins and outs of their child’s unique learning style.
Our founder Kathleen Brigham wants every child to find confidence in the classroom.
Stemming from a family of educators, Kathleen is inspired to help students discover self-awareness, confidence, and academic success through Brigham Learning.
Kathleen possesses a Bachelor’s degree from Middlebury College and a Master’s in Educational Administration from Columbia Teacher’s College. She worked as an admissions director for grades kindergarten through eight at the Dwight School in New York City while also teaching art history and grammar classes.
After a number of years in New York City, Kathleen moved to London, UK, where she started tutoring at the American School in London in St. Johns Wood. She was intrigued by special education and completed the Beve Hornsby Diploma in Learning Differences, which focused on the Alpha to Omega program. While in London, Kathleen also co-founded School Choice International, an education consulting company that counseled families looking for schools in both the London and Tri-State area. She also taught ESL to foreign business executives and homeschooled children of actors who were abroad for stints of time.
After moving back state-side, Kathleen focused on raising her three children while continuing private tutoring. She joined The Learning Consultants in 2012, where she scaled the business considerably by growing a presence in the tri-state area while continuing her first love: tutoring students in executive function and writing.
Now, inspired by the learning challenges and opportunities experienced by students during 2020, Kathleen has founded Brigham Learning, designed to reach as many students as possible.
It’s time to learn something new.
Check out our tutoring services to learn more about our offerings.